I can't remember which thread I promised to post this in but here it is. It's one of my class handouts for the Emergency Recall. I hope that it's easy enough to understand, it's given with explanation during all classes and private training sessions. BTW, the "DUCK-DUCK-GOOSE is my emergency recall for Sophie and is demo'd in class with her under a crazy bunch of competing motivators..in case you're wondering about the title of the handout.

DUCK DUCK..GOOSE!! - EMERGENCY RECALL

Lets say your dog somehow got off leash and was headed towards a busy road during rush hour traffic. What would you do? Do you have a foolproof plan? The EMERGENCY RECALL is the most important command that you‘ll ever teach your dog. Here’s how it works -

We’ve already gone over the importance of calling your dog ONLY when he is already coming to you in order to teach a proper recall. Let’s take 3 of those perfect recalls every day and hard wire them for an EMERGENCY.
First, decide on a word or series of words that you and your family will use for the EMERGENCY RECALL. It should be something that you’ll remember, that you don’t already use around the dog, and that he won’t hear at the dog park…..like DUCK DUCK…GOOSE!!!!

Find some EXTRA special treats, something he absolutely drools for, that you will ONLY use for EMERGENCY RECALL and have them ready in your pocket.
Three times a day, when your dog is already coming to you, call him with your EMERGENCY recall word or words. When he gets to you, take a full 30 seconds and while repeating this recall - feed him his favorite treat in small pieces. Create a fine dining experience, one that he’ll thoroughly enjoy and remember.

Make sure to only practice this 3 times/day for the first 2 weeks (morning, noon and night) and ALWAYS pay for the full 30 seconds while repeating his EMERGENCY recall command over and over. As you start to see him respond…and you will, you can call him from a bit more distance and with more distraction. Be sure to go slow, you don’t want to add difficulty before your EMERGENCY recall is hard wired.

Once he is responding 100% of the time to the 3 EMERGENCY recalls/day, space them out to once/day, then 3/week and so on. You MUST always pay…ALWAYS! I still practice this once/week with my dogs and have used it successfully in a variety of situations that have caused people to stand with their jaws dropped in amazement at its effectiveness. It works, and it may just save your dog’s life some day.

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I LOVE my new siggy Baxter'smybaby, THANK YOU SO MUCH....you're the BEST!!!!!!!

I just envisioned a classroom of dogs and students yelling "duck-duck- goose!" Lol. On a serious note... this is an excellent exercise!!

You sould hear some of the Emergency Recall terms people come up with.
One couple uses "YOU'RE NAKED! another English couple uses "BANGERS AND MASH", it's really quite hillarious. I only give each owner/family about 3-5 minutes to decide on an ER term, otherwise they end up taking weeks to decide and loose valuable practice time. Deciding on and sharing terms makes for a fun class activity too.

I started using DUCK-DUCK-GOOSE as mine because at the time Sophie was on an elimination diet and we were trying roast duck chopped into little pieces for rewards. She went completely NUTS for the duck bits so I guess somehow my brain ended up at DUCK-DUCK-GOOSE!!!!!

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I LOVE my new siggy Baxter'smybaby, THANK YOU SO MUCH....you're the BEST!!!!!!!

Lets say your dog somehow got off leash and was headed towards a busy road during rush hour traffic. What would you do? Do you have a foolproof plan?

I'd say, loud and proud, "GET OFF THE ROAD". Or if I felt the lunge was particularly inappropriate I'd embarass her while I was at it by saying instead, "forGET it" In the first instance she would instantly know which side to the curb to be on. In the second she would know that she is behaving like a dog of very low status. A puppy even.

I taught her the road and how to be off it so she can walk off the lead at any time. Forget it means stop whatever you are doing. Every time she hears it her head goes to one side and she stops midstride. I taught her all that with no treats and no punishments. She is happy to do what the pack requires coz she understands that that is best for all of us.

I'd say, loud and proud, "GET OFF THE ROAD". Or if I felt the lunge was particularly inappropriate I'd embarass her while I was at it by saying instead, "forGET it" In the first instance she would instantly know which side to the curb to be on. In the second she would know that she is behaving like a dog of very low status. A puppy even.

I taught her the road and how to be off it so she can walk off the lead at any time. Forget it means stop whatever you are doing. Every time she hears it her head goes to one side and she stops midstride. I taught her all that with no treats and no punishments. She is happy to do what the pack requires coz she understands that that is best for all of us.

That's great. The sentance that you quoted is just one example of where the Emergency recall works.
It's taught and proofed with many competing motivators but is very effective for puppies as well, very early in their training. It really just teaches that no matter what the distraction, when the ER is called...there's no thought to do anything but come. I've use it mid chase with Sophie and a rabbit and have people talk about crazy things that they've gotten their dogs out of using this Emergency Recall.

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I LOVE my new siggy Baxter'smybaby, THANK YOU SO MUCH....you're the BEST!!!!!!!

I have read about this, and I love the idea. I'm still trying to get straight in my head how it's different from a regular recall -- don't you want the regular recall to be hard-wired, able to turn on a dime and return to you no matter what the distraction? It's confusing to me to teach two things that mean the same thing? What's the difference between them, if I may ask without sounding too incredibly foolish?

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My dog is Louie, a long-coat chihuahua. [myspace][dogster][flickr]
Louie was born May 7, 2006. Last weigh-in: 8lbs!
We live in Seattle.

I have read about this, and I love the idea. I'm still trying to get straight in my head how it's different from a regular recall

LOL I spent most of today thinking about this exercise, and wondering about the same things as you. Here's what my brain worked out:

Most people probably screw up the recall more than we want to admit. They call the dog to "come", and then don't have rewards, or they call when there is no chance of getting the dog to come (mid-chase), or they repeat themselves so many times that the dog hears "come", and just tunes it out. "Come" becomes an optional command.

With the emergency recall, you set yourself up to practice by having the treats, being in the right situation. You are using a command that the dog doesn't hear over and over again, so it means just one thing. And you always reward with a huge jackpot.

I love the idea of this exercise - I'd never heard of it. Meg's recall is pretty stunning anyway, but I'm thinking of using the same idea to really jackpot "come" a few times a day. I admit, I'm too self-concious to stand in the yard screaming "You're naked!" to my dog